<p>At my school, we have a similar progression to what beth’s mom described, where most college bound kids take AP Bio as juniors and either skip science or take AP Chem senior year. We also have excellent physics teachers, both for regular and AP level, so I think the problem at our school is that it’s not something you get introduced to as a freshman or sophomore (like Bio and Chem respectively) so some kids would rather not branch out from stuff they already know. Another point to consider is the abundance of Bio related electives, while there is no way to ease in to physics with a half year course.
That being said, having taken AP Physics as a junior has made BC Calc a heck of a lot easier to understand for me as a senior:)</p>